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Meet Spirit of Augsburg Award Winner Grace Kemmer Sulerud ’58

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Grace Kemmer Sulerud '58Grace Kemmer Sulerud ’58 has displayed faithful service to Augsburg University across her time as a graduate, librarian, faculty member, and alumna. She personifies Augsburg’s deep sense of calling to humbly serve others in a variety of ways, with joyful dedication.

As a dedicated volunteer, her nominators say, “You will find her wherever an extra hand is needed.”

Determined to gain a full education, Sulerud worked and saved money to go from her hometown, Williston, North Dakota, to Augsburg, as it was the college of the Lutheran Free Church. Sulerud’s Augsburg education and excellent professors prompted her to experience life in the Twin Cities, exploring the state capitol and fine arts like symphony concerts and plays. She made lifelong friends and enjoyed being on the staff of the student newspaper, The Echo.

After graduating from Augsburg in 1958, she was an elementary librarian and junior high English teacher in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. From 1961 to 1964, she was an elementary librarian in U.S. Air Force Department of Defense Schools in Tokyo, Japan; Tripoli, Libya; and Wiesbaden, Germany. This gave her an opportunity to travel around the world with a stop in India to visit a friend, Maxine Berntsen, another distinguished alumna of Augsburg. After returning to the United States, Sulerud studied for a master’s degree in Library Science (1968) and later received a master’s degree in English (1970), each from the University of Minnesota.

During her many years as Augsburg’s Collection Development Librarian and faculty member, she was committed to the learning of students. She served two terms as the treasurer of Augsburg Associates, from 2003 to 2007 and 2011 to 2017, ensuring they raised funds for Augsburg student scholarships. Her interests and energy lead her to participate in travels to Cuba with the Delegation For Friendship Among Women, and to Ethiopia supporting the efforts of REAL, Resources for the Enrichment of African Lives, an organization that helps girls stay in school.

In Minneapolis, Sulerud is a member of Trinity Lutheran Congregation located on Riverside Avenue, a congregation associated with the founding of Augsburg, where she sings in the choir, leads the monthly quilter’s work session and has participated in activities with Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing.

With her late husband Ralph, long-time Augsburg biology professor, Sulerud has remained a supporter and enthusiast for all things Augsburg. Though she retired from Augsburg in 2003, she continues to stay involved at important university events: the recent grand opening of the Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion; Homecoming festivities; Velkommen Jul; and Advent Vespers.

Sulerud lives out the Spirit of Augsburg Award and exemplifies Augsburg’s historic mottos consistently: “Education for Service” and “The Truth Shall Make You Free.” Her loyalty, dependability, and generosity enable Augsburg to carry forward with hearty conviction, intellectual rigor, and relational connectedness.

Professor Jeremy Myers Publishes First Book on Liberating Youth Through Theological Reflection on Vocation

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book cover of Liberating Youth“I often say I love kids more than I love Jesus. I think Jesus is okay with this sentiment. In fact, I think Jesus prefers it this way. He can handle it. Jesus knows our young people are caged birds like the ones in Maya Angelou’s poem. I write this book to change the way we think about our young people so that we might love them as they are, not as we think they should be.”

This is how Dr. Jeremy Myers, associate professor of religion at Augsburg, begins his first book, “Liberating Youth from Adolescence.” The book is scheduled to be released in paperback and ebook format on Oct. 1 by Fortress Press.

Myers says he has been teaching this material in the Youth and Family degree program at Augsburg for the past decade and it was an honor and privilege for him to finally put it down on paper for a larger audience.

“The writing process was both exhausting and exhilarating,” Myers said. “I struggled to find the words to best communicate thoughts and convictions that are so important to me. There were many times I considered throwing in the towel. But the urgency and importance of the topic kept me motivated. I am so excited to have these ideas out there in the larger conversation and can not wait to hear what people think about it.”

Professor Jeremy Myers About the Author

Jeremy Myers has been teaching at Augsburg University since 2006. His approach to instruction includes a faithful, honest, and critical look at people’s lived realities while simultaneously attempting to seek and proclaim meaning, truth, and hope within the context of that reality. This is also how he approaches his discipline of Theology & Public Leadership. Therefore, he often incorporates insights from sociology, psychology, cultural studies, and ritual studies into the class’s theological process.

In addition to teaching, his work at Augsburg University includes directing the Theology & Public Leadership major, the Youth Studies minor, the Augsburg Youth Theology Institute, and the Riverside Innovation Hub. Jeremy’s areas of research include youths’ experiences of God’s presence and activity, how young people construct theology, contemplative youth ministry practices, interfaith youth work, a vocational understanding of young people, and a public understanding of church.

 

Meet Spirit of Augsburg Award Winner Orville “Joe” Hognander

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Joe Hognander
Orville “Joe” Hognander

By following his family’s values of faith, dedication to building community, and applied philanthropy, Orville “Joe” Hognander has improved the lives of many.

Joe has deep Augsburg roots that extend back over 100 years to when his grandfather, Rev. Lars R. Lund, graduated from Augsburg Seminary in 1912. Later it would be at Augsburg where his parents first met during their freshman registration for the class of 1936. During their Augsburg years, Gertrude Lund and Orville Hognander shared their love of choral music through the newly created Augsburg Choir, where Orville became the first announcer and business manager and Gertrude was the piano accompanist. Of note, Orville created a weekly radio show on WCCO called the Hour Melodious, which featured the choir with Orville providing the spoken word. He also arranged the choir’s first tour of 20 concerts throughout the Midwest.

Fellow Augsburg classmates remained lifelong friends of the Hognander family. Leland Sateren ’35 was best man at Orville and Gertrude’s wedding and went on to become a prolific composer, director of the Augsburg Choir, and chairman of the music department. Likewise, Oscar Anderson ’36, became Augsburg’s president from 1963 to 1980. It was during his tenure that Gertrude received Augsburg’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1973.

After graduating from high school, Joe Hognander left the Twin Cities for college, graduate school, and work. While employed by Black & Decker in Dallas, Texas, he received notification from his draft board that he would soon be called, so he immediately applied for Naval Officer Candidate School and was accepted. While on active duty, he had varied and challenging assignments including one as head of the translation division for the U.S. military command located in Saigon during the period just prior to the withdrawal of all military forces from Vietnam.

Following retirement from the Navy, Joe returned to the Twin Cities, where he cared for his parents during their final years. Part of this assistance involved helping his parents fulfill their philanthropic interests, which included support of institutions and organizations that had been significant in their lives. The Orville and Gertrude Hognander Endowment for music students was a direct outcome of this.

Today Joe conscientiously carries on the family tradition of support for work in the arts, sciences, music, charity, and education. As one person noted, “He has the heart of a philanthropist and the head of a businessman.” Scores of organizations doing good work have had their public service magnified because he approaches needs in the community with an Auggie spirit of responsible leadership and stewardship.

Meet First Decade Award Winner Chris Stedman ‘08

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Chris Stedman '08
Chris Stedman ’08

Chris Stedman ‘08 is a humanist community organizer, interfaith activist, and writer living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is the founding executive director of the Humanist Center of Minnesota, a project seeking to explore the viability of a center for humanist life in Minneapolis, through which he and a group of researchers are currently studying the beliefs, practices, and community involvement of the religiously unaffiliated.

One of his nominators, Dr. Lori Brandt Hale, associate professor of religion at Augsburg, says this about Chris, “As a long-standing member of this community, I think we must count ourselves lucky to call Chris one of ours, and even luckier that he has come back to Minnesota, and Augsburg University, to carry on his important work in collaboration with all of us.”

Formerly the founding executive director of the Yale Humanist Community and a fellow at Yale University, Chris also worked as a humanist chaplain at Harvard University, a content developer and trainer for the Interfaith Youth Core, and as the founding managing director of State of Formation at the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue. He currently serves as a fellow at the Christensen Center for Vocation at Augsburg University, and previously served as a fellow at Augsburg’s Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship.

Chris is the author of “Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious” (Beacon Press, 2012), “an intimate and deeply affecting portrait… [that] proves [he is] an activist in the truest sense and one to watch” (Booklist, Starred Review). The book received widespread acclaim from publications like the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which called it an “enlightening and engaging memoir calling for civil discourse between atheists and the religious [that] couldn’t come at a better time,” and the Houston Chronicle, which named Faitheist one of the best religion books of the year and called it “an exciting and boundary defying introduction to a new world [and] an amazing book that could potentially change the game.”

Chris received a master of arts in religion from Meadville Lombard Theological School at the University of Chicago, for which he was awarded the Billings Prize for Most Outstanding Scholastic Achievement. A 2008 graduate of Augsburg University with a summa cum laude bachelor of arts in religion (with English and social welfare minors), he is currently writing a book exploring what it means to be “real” in the digital age and writing a monthly column on the same topic for INTO.

He has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and Fox News, has spoken at hundreds of conferences and universities, and has written for publications including The Guardian, The Atlantic, Pitchfork, BuzzFeed, VICE, The Los Angeles Review of Books, CNN, MSNBC, USA Today, Salon, The Washington Post, and others. Details magazine named Chris one of “five next-gen gurus who are disrupting religion’s status quo” and Mic called him “the millennial who’s busting every stereotype about atheists.”

The irony has been noted that Augsburg’s most well known religion graduate is known for the fact that he is an atheist, and it is through this robust civic and ideological engagement that Chris practices the mission and vision of Augsburg.

Augsburg Alumni Office Offering Tickets for the Church Basement Ladies Production of “You Smell Barn”

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The Church Basement Ladies in You Smell BarnThe Augsburg Alumni Office has set aside a number of tickets for Auggies to see the Sunday October, 14 showing of “You Smell Barn by the Church Basement Ladies at 2 p.m. in the Ames Center Black Box Theater (12600 Nicollet Ave., Burnsville, MN). Tickets are $33 and can be purchased at https://advancement.augsburg.edu/2018-homecoming-registration

This new musical comedy is based on a novel by alumnae Janet Letnes Martin ‘68 and Suzann Nelson ‘68 and features Janet Paone ‘83 reprising her role as Vivan Snustead.

About You Smell Barn

From the basement to the barn, your beloved Church Basement Ladies are back and getting busy with life outside the kitchen. After the last of the hotdish is served, the coffee pot is emptied, and the Jello molds are put away, these steadfast, sturdy women head to their farms, peel off their good girdles, and get on with their daily chores. In between picking eggs, milking cows, and dusting knickknacks, they congregate with some of the other lovable folks who inhabit this rural community: Earl, who delivers the mail up and down Rural Route One; Fergus, the hired man; and Tillie, who chronicles the action for the Fish County Weekly.

With plenty of crazy antics, loads of fresh laughs, and spanking new original songs, “You Smell Barn” celebrates rural life in the 1950’s. And, at the center of it all, are your favorite Church Basement Ladies. Whether you’ve seen several versions, or are new to the world of the basement, the 7th in the Church Basement Ladies series is a musical treat for all.

Produced by Curt Wollan, Troupe America, Inc., “You Smell Barn” is written by Greta Grosch, with music by Dennis Curley; lyrics by Greta Grosch and Dennis Curley; and inspired by the new book “Growing Up Rural, You Smell Barn” by Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson.

Meet First Decade Award Winner Killa Marti, Esq. ‘08

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Register now for Homecoming!

Killa Marti '08
Killa Marti ’08

Originally from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Killa Marti, Esq. ‘08 arrived in the United States in 2004 as a student. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Economics from Augsburg University in 2008. Shortly after, she left to fulfill an employment obligation in China. After concluding her employment contract with the Hua Qiao Language Institute in Chang Chun, China, Killa returned to the United States to obtain a Juris Doctor from Hamline University School of Law (now Mitchell Hamline School of Law).

One of her nominators, Zaira Solano, says this about Killa in her nomination letter, “Killa is a relentless advocate, woman of integrity, and leader in everything that she does.”

With the clear objective of working in the field of immigration, Killa took every opportunity to serve the immigrant population in the United States. She served in an internship at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota and was a volunteer for Civil Society, a nonprofit that works to help victims of human trafficking. She also completed a practicum at the law firm of Contreras Edin & Associates. Killa represented Hamline in the Inter American Human Rights Competition in Washington, D.C., and worked for the state legislature in Minnesota through its Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs. During this time, Killa also worked in the legal publishing division of Thomson Reuters, a global news agency and publisher. Upon graduation, Killa worked for the firm of Cole & Vondra, PLLC in Iowa City, Iowa, where she had the opportunity to litigate in the immigration courts of Omaha and Chicago. She also defended immigrant clients in the state courts of Iowa.

For the last three years, Killa has worked in Georgia, assisting the launch of the Immigration Services program at the nonprofit Lutheran Services of Georgia. During her time there, she worked closely with refugees and sponsors of unaccompanied minor immigrant children. Killa accepted a position at Solano Law Firm, litigating cases before the Atlanta Immigration Court and the Board of Immigration Appeals. She also serves as the leader of a low-income, volunteer-run legal clinic called Gospel Justice Initiative in the city of Clarkston, Georgia. Killa is licensed to practice law in Iowa, Georgia, and immigration law all over the nation, and is now owner and managing attorney of her own firm, Marti Law Firm, LLC.

Killa is known as a fiercely motivated attorney who works tirelessly for her clients in districts and cases where the decks are stacked against them. In signature Auggie fashion, her career has developed as one which recognizes the needs in our diverse world and takes meaningful action to meet those needs. She served as chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the American Immigration Lawyers Association chapter in Georgia and Alabama from 2016 to 2018, and she continues to pair clients in need of Pro Bono services with local attorneys and mentor lawyers early in their careers.

Killa has been called a person of faith, integrity, intelligence, commitment, and compassion. She embodies the values of Augsburg through thoughtful stewardship, critical thinking, and rigorous pursuit of justice and equity. She is dedicated to ensuring education and financial support are available to girls, and she is working to grow her acts of kindness into a nonprofit where she can empower more students so they can live to their fullest potential.

Meet First Decade Award Winner Dr. Brian Krohn ‘08

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Register now for Homecoming!

Dr. Brian Krohn
Dr. Brian Krohn

Brian Krohn ‘08, Ph.D., is a passionate innovator, entrepreneur, and Augsburg’s first Rhodes Scholar. Switching from an Augsburg degree in film to one in chemistry was only one component of a rapidly expanding career that includes experience in renewable technology, mobile app development, local food, and medical devices.

In a joint letter nominating Brian for this award, the Chemistry Department at Augsburg says, “Brian is an alumnus who typifies the best of Augsburg’s liberal arts education; he weaves together his care of creation and humanity with his technical prowess and creative insight to make the world a better place.”

While at Augsburg, Brian was named a Goldwater Scholar, founded the Honors Review journal for student scholarship, and created an Honors course on home brewing. He researched the production of cleaner biodiesel fuel in collaboration with Augsburg’s Professor Emeritus Arlin Gyberg, Ph.D., and alumnus Clayton McNeff ’91, which spurred a new patented catalyzation process and physical plant, Evercat Fuels, that produces more than 8 million gallons of biodiesel per year. Some of Brian’s research has been featured on “Good Morning America” and the National Council on Undergraduate Research Session.

Watch the KARE OnLIVE segment on his research below:

 

Brian earned a Ph.D. in Natural Resources and Sciences and Management from the University of Minnesota as an Environmental Protection Agency Fellow, as well as master’s degrees from the University of Oxford in Environmental Change and Management and the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine as a Rhodes Scholar. He co-founded several companies including Mighty Axe Hops, which is the largest producer of Minnesota hops for local craft breweries.

He was an Innovation Fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Medical Devices Center, where he worked on projects ranging from a new tool to assist neurosurgeons to remove brain cancer to an app to improve sleep. He is currently the CEO of Soundly, an app-based therapy to reduce snoring, which is a technology funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. His company, Magic Wizard Staff, displays his technical brilliance and playful creativity. Most recently, he joined Modern Logic, an innovative digital product development company. Brian has also served as an adjunct instructor at Macalester College and Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and has garnered numerous academic honors and entrepreneurship awards.

Brian’s time at Augsburg was marked by exploration of not only chemistry, biology, and mathematics, but also philosophy, film, and literature. Paired with thoughtful consideration of calling and community, this cultivated his pursuit of knowledge, art, and technology in service to the world. His work demonstrates the power of Augsburg’s intersection of liberal arts education and professional studies to enable others to be more healthy, happy, and fully human. He continues to stay connected to Augsburg and is generous with his time, encouraging and offering advice to students since his return to the Twin Cities.

Homecoming Auggie Talk: The Baby Boom Effect – Hosted by the Class of 1968

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Register now for Homecoming!

Auggie Talks photo from Homecoming 2017On Friday, Oct. 12, from 3:30 – 4:15 p.m. in the Sateren Auditorium, Anderson Music Building, five members of the class of 1968 will discuss “The Baby Boom Effect: How Four Years Affected 50.” Alumni will each present a three to five minute description of how their time at Augsburg influenced what they have done personally and professionally over the past 50 years. Each has pursued different paths since leaving Augsburg while impacting the world in meaningful ways.

About Auggie Talks:

They’re back by popular demand! Join us for 30-minute, insightful sessions presented by professors and fellow alumni on topics spearheaded by your class reunion groups. Talks will be published as they become available on social media and in upcoming communications.

Space is limited. Please register today for Auggie Talks.

Meet First Decade Award Winner Joshua Harris ‘08

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Joshua Harris in Baltimore, Maryland.
Joshua Harris ’08 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Joshua Harris’ life and work in the last ten years of his young career have been devoted to public leadership, building connections and making a difference in his community.

As one of Joshua’s nominators, Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter says, “When I think of Joshua, it makes sense that he is an alumnus of Augsburg, as he truly lives the mission of being an informed citizen, a thoughtful steward, a critical thinker, and a responsible leader.”

Joshua is the co-founder of the Hollins Creative Placemaking, a non-profit fostering urban revitalization by including the use of art and the creative processes. He sits on the board of the Charles Village Urban Renewal Project, Pauls Place Community, Baltimore’s Promise Mentoring Task force and Baltimore’s Southwest Partnership.

Joshua ran for Mayor of Baltimore in 2016 becoming the youngest person ever to run for mayor. He ran as a Green Party Candidate and in a one party town Josh took 10% of the vote, more than any third party candidate in history. He is dedicated to creating attainable solutions for the challenges Baltimore and similar urban cities face around the nation.

Joshua is a brand and communications expert and currently is a Deputy Director of Communications for a national women’s reproductive rights organization where he monitors policy and guides communication strategy for more than a dozen state chapters and affiliates.  He also sits on the board of directors for the NAACP Maryland State Conference and the Downtown Baltimore Family Alliance. He has previously worked for an international non-profit that provides mentorship and scholarship opportunities to young African American boys and men and is the former director of communications for Black and Brown People Vote. Joshua has been a featured speaker on urban renewal and education disparities at the “Imagine America Conference” and the “Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference”. Joshua is has a passion and commitment to empowering people and for progressive policy solutions.

Continuing to stay active in his community, Joshua is currently running to be the delegate for District 40 in Baltimore, Maryland.

While attending Augsburg University from 2005 to 2008, Joshua played basketball, was on student government, was a residence life advisor, an active member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and the Co-chair of The Pan-African student Union for two years. Joshua majored in communication studies with a double emphasis in broadcast journalism and marketing, and a film studies minor.

As a communication studies major, Harris learned the theory and skills to create sound public policy, argue effectively for meaningful change, persuade diverse audiences. In true Augsburg fashion, Harris has channeled his education and professional experience to reduce inequity and fight for social justice as a responsible, informed, and active citizen leader.

Augsburg University Associates Host Their Annual Fall Brunch

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On Saturday, Sept. 15, the Augsburg University Associates hosted their annual fall brunch. The Associates conducted their business meeting, heard Leif Anderson give greetings from the University, got an update on admissions from Devon Ross, and enjoyed fellowship together. They also welcomed new board members and thanked members who are ending their time on the board.
View an album of the brunch below:
Augsburg Associates Fall Brunch 2018
Later this fall, the Associates are looking forward to welcoming new members and hosting Velkommen Jul!